Facing ongoing recognition and fear that the Islamist State (ISIS) sphere is spreading globally, a coalition of nations are rallying together to fight back against the terrorist group, the White House said Thursday.
Among those are brethren nations Egypt and Saudi Arabia, a White House national security official told MSNBC's "Morning Joe," noting those Middle Eastern countries are "starting to see this (ISIS) threat as the wolf at their door,"
The Hill reports.
"Countries that don't have a lot in common and countries that don’t always cooperate with us are starting to stand up," White House deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken told "Morning Joe."
When Congress returns from its end-of-summer recess, the growing spread of ISIS is sure to be top of mind as lawmakers are faced with making choices on strategy as the White House attempts to craft a policy and aligns others around the world.
Among those issues will be helping moderate factions within Syria, where ISIS is likely headquartered, Blinken said. Equipping and training rebel forces within the nation seems a certain starting point as the call for air strikes inside the country mounts, marking a difficult political balance for the White House in the region.
"This, as the president has said, is going to have to be a sustained effort," Blinken
told CNN on Wednesday. "It's going to take time, and it will probably go beyond even this administration to get to the point of defeat."
U.S. policy on ISIS was thrust into the spotlight with the beheading death of journalist Steven Sotloff, the second such murder in recent weeks and one that captivated social media where backlash against the White House grew stronger. It propelled some members of Congress to demand a vote on a possible war strategy moving ahead,
the Daily Beast noted.
"The war drums definitely seem to be beating," a congressional aide noted in an interview with
Business Insider as a groundswell for expanding the fight against the terrorist group continues on Washington and beyond.
Some lawmakers hope to see airstrikes in Syria being immediately. Sen. Bill Nelson, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, hopes to introduce legislation that would give him that authority.
Nelson, a Democrat, says the U.S. must lead such a coalition.
"Let there be no doubt, we must go after ISIS right away because the U.S. is the only one that can put together a coalition to stop this group that’s intent on barbaric cruelty," he told Business Insider.
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